RetRail – New trends in Retail Commerce
▶Summary
New technologies play a key role to the retail industry. SMEs must adapt quickly to the market demands but they lack the knowledge of the know-how. Most of them lack the incentive for change due t...
▶Objectives
The project aimed to increase the capability of managers and employees of retail SMEs for implementing both digital and on-site sales, with these 2 sides working in unison in order to both digitally transform their business and increase their sales. On the other hand, the project aimed to give to VET institutions and trainers a new innovative training methodology and tools for supporting managers and employees of retail SMEs. Specific project objectives have been to: • Upgrade the digital and numeral literacy for both retail sector employees and their trainers • Familiarize them with the most popular and up to date digital innovations. • Introduce them to common strategies regarding online marketing along with practical tips for everyday use • Put the SMEs of the retail sector into the digital arena and help them to create connections with potential customers who tend to buy online • Point them the most common mistakes and bad practices that tend to take place. • Upgrade the company’s image through digital marketing methods • Increase their sales thanks to the combination of all the above.
▶Activities
Main activities implemented in the project have included: • Development of the “Project Results”, including PR1 “New trends in Retail Guide'', PR2 “RetRail e-learning Programme” and PR3 “RetRail Trainers Guide” • A set of pilot implementation activities were implemented involving owners and employees of retail SMEs, as well as VET trainers of the sector, providing their feedback in order for the outputs to go through fine tuning. • Finally, 6 multiplier events have been implemented in Spain, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and Cyprus. • Dissemination activities, including a project website (www.retrail.eu) and promotional material delivered to digital and online media. • Project management activities, including technical and administrative management, monitoring of the progress and achievements and quality assurance
▶Impact
Main project outputs include complete guides and step to step tutorials regarding innovative retail methods, information about strategies that involve such methods, practical exercises as well as case studies, best practices and practical activities. PR1 “New trends in Retail'' guide aims at retail SMEs managers and owners, and it enlist in detail all the latest innovations, trends and changes in the retail sector, along with examples and cases studies. It helps them stay up to date and motivate themselves in order to implement these changes into their own businesses. PR2. “RetRail e-learning Programme” addressed to retail employees, in the form of learning modules, hosted on a specially designed e-training platform, around the main new trends in retail: Social commerce; Influencer marketing; Online stores in offline spaces; AR-Powered Shopping Experiences; Ethical and values-based brands on the rise; Faster delivery; Increased use of chatbots; Data science-based personal interaction; Pop up stores; Customer experience onsite. PR3. “RetRail Trainers Guide” which aims at VET trainers and consultants and which guide them on how to implement the above 2 outputs into their curricula and effectively motivate and teach their learners on how to properly use the latest innovations in the retail sector. Additionally the project have involved 233 retail employees and VET Trainers & Consultants in the pilot testing actions, 161 stakeholders in the Multiplier Events and have achieved more than 80.000 impacts through the dissemination activities.